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Plastic shares Linger in Shadows development tools
Are you familiar with the demoscene group known as Plastic? If you are not, then you've been taking the "interactive digital art" Linger in Shadows for granted. Plastic is the group responsible for putting LiS together; so all your strange nightmares of floating Basset Hounds are all thanks to them. Speaking of 'putting LiS together,' Plastic group co-founder, Bonzaj, sent us a tip on a video the group made which showcases some of the tools used in making Linger. The group used something called "Pico" -- a graphics engine for integration with Maya. "The tools are Maya plugins," said Bonzaj. "... and they can be downloaded from our site for free." Budding game developers (or digital artists for that matter) might want to avail of the free tools, but first, you'll probably want to check out that video we mentioned earlier and see those tools in action. You can watch that after the break.
Adtec announces two adorable, tiny projectors
With nearly every company (seriously, basically all of them) rolling out a tiny projector, it's getting pretty hard to stand out from the crowd -- and Adtec's two new MP15A Series projectors don't look like they're going to push the envelope in any way. Specwise, they're going to be nearly identical to the rest of the bunch, with 15 ANSI lumens, a 200:1 contrast ratio, and VGA 640 x 480 resolution, and they'll boast an LED lamp with about a 20,000 hour life. The two models -- the 15AW is white, 15AB is black -- will be available in December and January, respectively, but only in Japan. No word on a possible release in other, pico-starved areas of the globe yet. [Via About Projectors]
Optoma DLP Pico projector "coming soon" to US
The last time we saw it, Optoma's tiny Pico projector was being launched in Japan, and now it's finally been officially announced for the US. If by chance you've forgotten, the PK-101 has a 480 x 320 resolution, 9 ANSI lumens, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, gets up to 2 hours of battery life and has a 0.5 watt speaker. The most important feature of the projector of course, is its miniscule size (51 × 105 × 17-mm / 120g), which, we admit, is really, really, small. We don't have an exact release date, but we're assured that it's "coming soon" and that it'll run you about $400. [Via About Projectors]
Versions out of beta
Since getting schooled in the comments on my last mention of Versions (a favorite of Robert's), I've reacquainted myself with Subversion ... and come to really enjoy using this polished and highly usable SVN client. Git may have its benefits, but for a lot of what I do (especially solo web design), Subversion (and Versions) make a lot of sense. Versions is, as of yesterday, officially out of beta and available for purchase. I even received a 10% discount for being in on the beta test. Versions 1.0.1 is already out, which fixes the registration issues that some of us ran into. The initial 1.0 release included a lot of additional functionality, and Versions has become an amazing tool for handling all manner of Subversion-related revision control. Top on the list of new features, and of pretty major importance (at least to me), is the addition of an "Ignore [file/folder name]" option to the context menu. The full release notes are available at the Versions site, where you'll also find the download for the free demo. Versions is retailing at €39.00 (about $49USD), and users on the email notification list should have received a 10% discount coupon number. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Optoma's palm-sized video projector looks great
Optoma's tiny Pico projector has caught our attention. This small device (50mm x 103mm x 15mm) weighs four ounces and features up to 2 hours of battery life, an LED lamp with a lifespan of 20,000 hours and mini USB connectivity. The manufacturers claim that images can be viewed at 60" (measured diagonal from corner to corner) from a maximum distance of 2.6 meters. The AV Input combines stereo audio and composite video via a 1 x 2.5mm 4 pole jack socket.In the video above, it's connected to an iPod Classic and the image looks pretty good. Of course, our experience is only as good as the quality of the clip, but it definitley looks like a fun device. Videos, images and even slide presentations could be run off of your iPod and pocket projector, eliminating the need to bring a laptop, adaptor and full-sized projector to your meeting.The proof is in the pudding, and we'd like to get our hands on one of these. Optoma says they'll start selling sometime next year with a price point around $400US.
Optoma teams with Apple to launch DLP Pico projector in Japan
At long last, an official release date for Texas Instruments' DLP Pico projector. Mark it down, December 1st is the launch (delivered by December 19th) of the "world's smallest / lightest" (51 × 105 × 17-mm / 120g) projector under the Optoma PK-101 branding. And in a smart, hip-by-association marketing move, it'll be sold from the Apple Store in Japan with an iPhone / iPod kit and dock connector for a tax-inclusive price of about ¥50,000 ($511). It'll work with non-Apple gear too, of course. With up to 2-hours battery life, an integrated 0.5 watt speaker, and white LED light throwing a 60-inch, "dazzlingly bright, sharp, vivid video image" packing 480 x 320 pixels from up to 8.5 feet away, Tokyo's Golden Gai district will never be the same.P.S. Encore video hands-on of the unit in action posted after the break.
Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10 available for pre-order on Amazon
You know what trend we really love? Tiny projectors. We seriously cannot get enough of them. In fact, anything that is cool in regular size, is much, much better once miniaturized. It's not the first time we've seen the Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10: when we last spied it, it was getting ready to go on sale in Australia as the Mint V10 for $600 AUD ($414). Well, it's now available for pre-order on Amazon in the good old US of A, with a miniaturized price tag of $299.99. Russell Crowe is not going to be happy.Update: The V10's gotten a very exhaustive review over at MetkuMods that you probably want to check out, if only to see the projector's packaging, which is intensely awesome. Needless to say, they love the portability of the device, but deem it not bright enough. Oh, they're also upset it doesn't have any games, which is weird and makes no sense.[Via I4U News]
Texas Instruments' Pico projector prototype caught on tape
Our friends at Engadget Spanish got a look at Texas Instruments' DLP Pico projector, which both Optoma and Toshiba have expressed interest in. The little unit pumps out a WVGA (we think) 1000:1 image, which they found quite satisfactory, in addition to 0.5 watts of sound. The built-in battery should run the thing for a couple of hours. Action-packed video after the break, en español!
Revo's new PICO hybrid radio pairs DAB and WiFi with great success
DAB... DAB... that's that digital radio thing, right? But it's not from a satellite, huh? Well, whatever. Revo's new PICO hybrid radio packs some internet radio over WiFi, so you don't have to move to some crummy country like the UK just to listen to predictably-programmed 80's music and cloying chatter. Revo's little unit is portable, gets 12 hours to a charge, and works with DAB, DAB+, FM and WiFi. It'll be available in September for £169.95 (about $3,180,000 USD).
VIA's PX5000EG Pico-ITX motherboard is no match for a hair dryer
It's been far too long since we've seen a gizmo from any walk of life get torture tested, but the wait for another is over at long last. As part of the Naked Pico Challenge, the crazy cats over at TechnoVoyance set out to see just how long the VIA PX5000EG Pico-ITX board could operate without any cooling whatsoever. After it hummed along for a fortnight without even a hiccup, the line had been drawn, and it was finally time to see precisely what could shut this thing down. We hate to spoil things, but suffice it to say, even this athlete-of-a-motherboard couldn't withstand the pressure of an 1,800-watt hair dryer for more than a minute or two. Head on past the break to see the softcore abuse on video.
WiNetworks Win7200 Pico Base Station optimizes WiMAX coverage
Although we're still waiting for WiMAX to really crash the party, WiNetworks is way ahead of the curve with its Win7200. The Pico Base Station was designed to provide "optimized indoor and outdoor WiMAX coverage," and is available in the 2.xGHz and 3.xGHz (802.16e Wave 2) frequency range. The single-piece device promises to sip power and stay tight for use in cramped environments, and it's also crafted to play nice with existing network equipment and provide interoperability with third-party WiMAX-certified gear. To date, a price has yet to be divulged, but the outfit will be proudly showcasing its new toy at the WiMAX Forum Global Congress and CommunicAsia late next month.
Super-Talent Pico USB drives: lose 'em even faster
Score, another "world's smallest" USB drive. Never seen one of those before. Super-Talent's latest Pico drives are mighty small though, and if one of you is somehow running the Tiny USB Hall of Records, it measures just 1.5 by .5 inches and holds 8GB in swivel, retractable, and waterproof versions. $35, should be out now.[Via Pocket-lint]
Ofcom gives cellphone use on planes the big thumbs way, way up
Prepare to be annoyed -- well maybe prepare to prepare to be annoyed is more fitting -- as Ofcom, the UK telecom regulator thinks flying and talking is fine for UK-registered aircraft. The technology will rely on a pico cell on the aircraft -- that's activated once the plane passes through 10,000 feet -- that links you up to the rest of the telecom world via satellite. Of course, (un)fortunately roadblocks still exist, as any airlines that want on board will need to have any equipment installed on aircraft checked out by the European Aviation Safety Agency. We love all things cell, as some may have noticed, but we shudder a wee bit at the prospect of being stuck next to a loud talker for a long-haul international red-eye. Non-talking section anybody?[Via textually.org]
Making Pico work on your iPhone
Over on #iphone-shell, user Doggkruse was wondering how to get pico to work on his iPhone. Problem was that the iPhone had no terminal definitions on-board. So every time he ran pico, he got "Unknown termtype vt100" errors. For those of you curious how to fix this problem, here's the solution. On your iPhone, create the folder /usr/share/terminfo/76 and copy /usr/share/terminfo/76/vt100 from your Mac over to the iPhone. Once there, set your term environment variable to vt100. In csh, this is set term=vt100. It varies, obviously, by shell. Once this is done, you should be able to use pico in normal full-screen mode. For those of you full-screen addicts, there's now vim and pico. For the rest of us, there's ed--the editor of kings. User DrunkDwarf was nice enough to put up a copy of vt100 for Windows users here. Thanks DrunkDwarf!
Motorola signs on with Microvision's PicoP laser projection
After months of eyelash batting and heavy petting, Microvision and Motorola have officially exchanged vows. In a deal inked yesterday, Motorola has agreed to help Microvision bring their PicoP laser projection technology to market. Not a surprise really what with Microvision's penchant for using Moto handsets in their marketing collateral. Unfortunately, the agreement looks to amount to the production of a functional prototype only for the time being. While the prospect of an 854 x 480 resolution projection is certainly titillating, we doubt our gadget vanity can withstand the extra chub and battery drain the tech would introduce on our slim, sexy handsets. Then again, the geek cred gained could offset the lack of swank. No worries, we've got several months (if not a couple of years) to grow up before product is ready for consumers. [Via Pocket-lint]
Yoggie intros security-minded Pico USB stick
It looks like those digging Yoggie's Gatekeeper mini computer but secretly hoping for an even more mini version will soon have their excessive demands met, as Yoggie's now announced its Pico USB stick, which appears to pack all the same security features in an even smaller package. Like the Gatekeeper, the Pico is a Linux-based device that'll give the stream of information coming in off the Internet a thorough cleaning before it ever reaches your PC, filtering out spam, spyware, and viruses, and protecting your computer from intrusions, among other measures. Also like the Gatekeeper, the Pico would seem to offer some potential for "improvements," packing a 520MHz processor and 128MB of RAM, although it apparently drops the SD slot of its larger counterpart. Look for this one to be available in two different versions, with the Pico Personal setting you back $179 and the Pico Pro (with added VPN functions) running $199. Both will apparently start shipping on June 10th.[Via Laptoping]
14 amateur CubeSats set to launch June 28th
In news sure to delight space geeks around the world (ourselves included), 14 CubeSats from ten universities and one private company are set to launch June 28th aboard a Russian DNEPR-1LV rocket from the Kazakstan Baikonur Cosmodrome, it was just announced today. CubeSats are essentially DIY kits that can be built for about $40,000 and launched for another $40,000 more, opening up space research to students and other amateurs. (We're still saving up for the Engadget sat that will datacast our site on all kinds of crazy pirate frequencies.) The mission had been set with a number of a delays, but it looks like this one is definitely a go -- or at least as sure a thing as you can get when it comes to space exploration. A second launch is already in the planning stages, tentatively set for September of this year.